Social skills do not come naturally to most individuals on the autism spectrum. Many individuals with autism are categorized by their difficulties with language and peer interactions. Since individuals with autism need to be explicitly taught social skills that come naturally to others, it is important for professionals and families to consider the elements of social cognition when developing effective social skills programs for individuals with autism of all ages.

Social cognition includes components that include but are not limited to: initiating communication, listening actively with eyes and brain, abstract and inferential thinking, understanding perspectives, getting the gist, humor and human relatedness. These elements affect social and academic growth since most people with social cognitive delays experience difficulties with auditory comprehension. Since listening requires an individual to make sense of the information, many individuals with autism have a hard time integrating the information being said. In addition, most individuals with autism take what is being said literally, when in reality, much of language is meant to be interpreted beyond its literal meaning. The intended meaning can be too abstract for an individual with autism to initially understand.

Social thinking, in addition, depends on people considering the thoughts, emotions, beliefs, motives, intentions, and personalities of others. This can be very difficult for a person with autism since many individuals struggle understanding the perspective of others. This can cause problems in and out of the classroom since individuals may misread the intentions of others, which then causes them to respond in a way that was not expected by the original speaker. Individuals with autism may not know if someone is joking, making fun of them, or is trying to get them to laugh. Failure to see the bigger picture and to understand the intentions of another can cause an individual with autism to misread the situation and intention of the conversation. While we do know that individuals with autism can have a sense of humor, it may be expressed differently than their peers which can create a sense of isolation and loneliness that can develop into depression later on it life.

The ILAUGH model of social cognition was created to address the growing social needs of individuals with autism and to create an acronym that easily identified the elements listed above (initiations, listening, abstract thinking, understanding perspective, getting the gist, and humor/human relatedness). It was created since researchers found that as individuals with autism aged, they experienced difficulty to “think with their eyes”. This resulted in poor listening skills and difficulties in taking the perspective of others. Because of this, a lot of individuals with autism have a hard time understanding abstract information, making relevant inferences, finding the main idea, and problems summarizing. These deficients create problems socially and academically.

Some interventions that can address these difficulties include the use of: social stories, comic strip conversations, social behavior mapping, the incredible 5 point scale (to help students identify their anxiety), and understanding the zones of regulation. By incorporating social skills into the general curriculum, these skills can be reinforced through the student’s core content areas.

The ILAUGH model explains what social cognitive functioning is and how it impacts individuals with autism socially and academically. Realizing that social skills span and develop across a life time, it is essential for professionals and parents to understand the special attention needed to address various social learning weaknesses. Classroom curricula should address these needs as teachers engage in meaningful relationship with their students. Through this relationship and special attention to teaching social skills, individuals with autism may increase in their ability to relate to others over time.

As I have been searching the internet reading about one of my favorite topic—education—I have come across some fantastic blog posts. I have listed my top 5 favorites of the week below: (Note: These blogs below contain different writing styles, education levels, and topics).

“I did not want to play alone, I played alone because I was a failure at playing with others.” -John Elder Robison

Another touching, yet scary realization John Elder Robison shares in his book, Look Me in the Eye.

“As a functional Aspergian adult, one thing troubles me deeply about those kids who end up behind the second door. Many descriptions of autism and Asperger’s describe people like me as “not wanting contact with others” or “preferring to play alone.” I can not speak for other kids, but I’d like to be very clear about my own feelings: I did not ever want to be alone. And all those child psychologists who said “John prefers to play by himself” were dead wrong. I played by myself because I was a failure at playing with others. I was alone as a result of my own limitations, and being alone was one of the bitterest disappointments of my young life. The sting of those early failures followed me long into adulthood, even after I learned about Asperger’s.”

Passage taken from: Robison, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. New York: Crown, 2007. Pg 211.

I do not know about you but this passage hit me hard. As a teacher, I wonder how I am supposed to encourage the play of all students when some students on the outside seem unwilling to play with others. Students tend to avoid activities that are hard so it should not come to a shock when a student with Asperger’s removes themselves from a group of people to feel “safe” or more “secure”.

Throughout my years of interacting with students, I have learned that every child wants to be accepted and loved for who they are as individuals. While some people are definitely more extraverted than others, no one wants to live life fully alone. We must be sure to include students the best we can and create opportunities of play for students who struggle. Without the child knowing, teachers can be consciousness of who they pair a student with Asperger’s with and create environments that encourage structured playing time. Structured playing time may help the child with Asperger’s to play with more ease and not feel the bitter disappointment of playing alone.

Students with Asperger’s can also be taught and instructed in what is considered appropriate behavior. Students without Asperger’s must also be taught how one should treat and include all human beings. With this said, teachers can have classroom discussions that include all students about appropriate behavior during play, recess, or lunch to help create an inclusive and safe environment for all students to interact and feel included.

I believe the teacher or the parent plays a huge role in setting the standard of how students in her classroom or home treat one another. Students can be taught basic principles of respect, understanding, and manners. This simple classroom discussion can lead to happy people and happy students, and prevent more passages as the one read above about John Elder Robison.

As stated in a previous post, I highly recommend the book: “Look Me in the Eye” by John Elder Robinson to gain a better understanding on people with Aspergers.

“…. our brains continue to develop throughout our lives. This is completely counter to what I’ve often heard but never accepted: “If you’re autistic, you never change.” If I am any example, it is possible to teach old dogs new tricks. In fact, my entire life exemplified continuing change”.

“As a kid, I was voted “most likely to fail,” and indeed, I flunked out of high school. Yet only a few years later I became an engineer on one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll tours in the world. Then I helped design some of the first electronic games. When I was in my thirties, I made a complete change of direction, raising akid and starting an automobile business. And at fifty, I changed course once again, becoming a successful author.”

Passage taken from: Robison, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. New York: Crown, 2007. Pg 284.

As stated in previous posts, I highly recommend the book: “Look Me in the Eye” by John Elder Robinson to gain a better understanding on people with Asperger’s.

Author of the book Look Me in the Eye, John Elder Robison share’s his experiences growing up as a boy with Asperger’s. So far, the story throughout has powerful messages and themes. Below, I highlighted a section I found particularly eye-opening as Robison shares the difficulties ‘Aspergians’ have with communication everyday. Aspergians don’t necessarily have an external sign of a disability, which can lead outside people to false conclusions or thoughts when interacting with a person with Asperger’s due to misunderstandings and a lack of knowledge about the disability. Robison aims to break this barrier by sharing an analogy about how society treats someone in a wheelchair compared to how someone would treat him with his own difficulties. He asks society to treat him with the same respect and wishes for compassion and grace for all.

“My conversational difficulties highlight a problem Aspergians face every day. A person with an obvious disability-for example, someone in a wheelchair-is treated compassionately because his handicap is obvious. No one turns to a guy in a wheelchair and says, “Quick! Let’s run across the street!” And when he can’t run across the street, no one says, “What’s his problem?” They offer to help him across the street. With me, though, there is no external sign that I am conversationally handicapped. So folks hear some conversational misstep and say, “What an arrogant jerk!” I look forward to the day when my handicap will afford me the same respect accorded to a guy in a wheelchair. And if the respect comes with a preferred parking space, I won’t turn it down.”

Passage taken from: Robison, John Elder. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s. New York: Crown, 2007. Pg 194.

I encourage society to treat all human beings with the same respect, dignity, and grace we all deserve. We must be careful not to jump to conclusions and understand the social difficulties people with Asperger’s face. I believe this will happen when people better understand what Asperger’s is and how social interaction is a struggle. We all struggle with communication and must extend grace to all.

As stated in a previous post, I highly recommend the book: “Look Me in the Eye” by John Elder Robinson to gain a better understanding on people with Aspergers.

“As sweet and funny and sad and true and heartfelt a memoir as one could find.”—from the foreword by Augusten Burroughs

“Look me in the eye” by John Elder Robison is a must read for anyone wishing to have a better understanding of people with Aspergers.

John Elder, a natural storyteller, remarkably shares a personal and detailed narrative of his life and his battles of feeling accepted by family, friends, and teachers who did not understand how his brain worked. He was not diagnosed until the age of 40 and was simply labeled as a “social deviant” growing up.

From overcoming his painful childhood, he persisted to become a successful business man repairing high-end cars. In his humorous, yet at times sad acount, John Elder creativly takes readers into the mind of an Asperger’s boy. This book will open up the minds and eyes of readers who may lack understanding or grace for people with Aspergers. This is a great summer read and is highly recommended.

A note from the author: “When I wrote “Look Me in the Eye”, I wanted to show readers what it was like to grow up feeling like a freak or a misfit. I thought my book would show how people with Asperger’s are different from everyone else. To my great surprise, my book actually shows the opposite: Deep down, people are very much the same”.

I agree with the author and would encourage all to buy and read this book! 🙂